All Hail Cousin Brother

375 Home Confiscated and Sent to prison

Zhou Linghuai held back his laughter. Afraid that the little girl would hear something amiss, he cleared his throat again. “No matter what my status is, I’m not willing to deliberately hide it from you.”

The evidence was in her hands. Whether she could realize it depended on herself.

It wasn’t that he was deliberately hiding or lying, so he couldn’t be blamed.

It was a good plan.

Yu Youyao pouted, feeling a little happy and unhappy. “So, this zither was actually made by my Cousin Zhou and given to you later?”

After confessing his identity, he was still her cousin in her heart.

Instead, her real cousin, Zhou Linghuai, had become Cousin Zhou.

Zhou Linghuai wanted to laugh. “Yes, it’s him.”

Yu Youyao opened her mouth.

Zhou Linghuai understood what she meant. “You want to ask if your Cousin Zhou is still alive?”

Yu Youyao’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

Zhou Linghuai smiled faintly. “The real Zhou Linghuai is still alive and well. He also tacitly agreed to me borrowing his identity. Otherwise, do you think that even if I was resourceful, would I have been able to get Old Madam Zhou’s personal seal and her personal letter?”

Even until dusk, there was no news from the palace. The officials who had entered the palace in the morning did not return home. All the doors were closed.

The entire capital was in a solemn atmosphere.

The heavy atmosphere lasted until the third day.

A message came from the palace. “All ten families of the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence, regardless of whether they’re old, young, or young, they’ll all be sent to jail for interrogation later.”

The officials drew their swords and rushed into the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence. Everyone in the house was arrested. The entire Marquis of Changxing’s Residence was in chaos, screaming and crying.

The people from the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence immediately took off their clothes and put on white prison clothes. Their hands and feet were shackled as they were escorted into the prison carriage.

The prison carriage drove past Chang An Street.

The commoners on both sides of the road were furious. They threw vegetables, rotten eggs, and even rocks at the people in the car. All kinds of curses were heard.

In addition, more than 30 officials in the capital were confiscated and imprisoned.

The first to bear the brunt were the Minister of War who was a second-grade official, the Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Pavilion, the cabinet aide Elder Sun, and his subordinates.

Secondly, the Imperial Inspection Court was also punished for failing to investigate.

Yu Zongzheng reported the matter of King You colluding with the enemy to betray the country back then and asked for a thorough investigation. He had accidentally escaped a calamity.

On the other hand, his superior, Yang Shiguang, who was also Yang Shuwan’s father, did not escape. He was stripped of his black veil hat, official robe, and dragged away by the imperial guards in the golden hall.

Throughout the day, the prison carriage on Chang An Street almost never stopped from morning to night.

On the fourth day.

The emperor, who had not left the court for three consecutive days, sat on the dragon throne. His face was gray and he was already exhausted. Even his hands on his lap could not help but tremble.

The Cabinet Grand Secretary, Xia Yansheng, was very old. He was given a seat and was leaning against a chair, dozing off bit by bit.

Opposite him sat Mr. Xian Yun, who had also been given a seat. He was drinking tea with his head lowered and looked to be in good spirits.

Yin Huaixi sat beside him. His red lips matched his sickly face, giving off a soul-stirring aura. No one present dared to look at him directly.

The corners of his lips curled up slightly as Young Master’s instructions appeared in his mind. “When Ye Hanyuan is done with the interrogation, hand over what I’ve prepared. Don’t say anything else.”

He did not understand and asked, “The old king was wronged. Why can’t we tell the emperor?”

The corners of Young Master’s lips curled up slightly with a hint of mockery. “In this world, the grievances that can be said aren’t called grievances. They’re called excuses. The grievances that can be shouted out aren’t called grievances. They’re called quibbles.” At this point, he paused for a moment. “It only matters when others feel that you’ve been wronged.”

At the thought of this, Yin Huaixi handed over the box that he had been holding with trembling hands. “Your Majesty, I have something to report to you.”

Below the golden hall, the exhausted emperor forced his eyes open and glanced at the servant at the side. “Bring it up.”

The emperor was very distant with this nephew.

It was also when King You was applying for an imperial seal for his son, Yin Huaixi, that he had seen him in a portrait. Later on, every year, there would be palace painters who specially went to Youzhou to draw a portrait of the heir.

In the painting, Yin Huaixi had long and narrow eyes, unlike his father, who had a pair of peach blossom eyes. Instead, he looked very much like his uncle. When he saw him, he couldn’t help but be happy and rewarded him a lot every year.

However, even a piece of paper could not hide his nephew’s defined eyebrows. Now, his legs were disabled and he was sick. Even the imperial physician said that he would not live past 20.

One could imagine how troubled he was.

The eunuch hurriedly stepped forward and took the box from Yin Huaixi’s hand, handing it to the emperor.

Yin Huaixi couldn’t help but cough a few times. He said hoarsely, “This item was an old item that the emperor had given to Father back then. Father had always kept it safe. When he was nine years old, Father gave it to him. Back then, when King You’s Residence was in flames, only the walls of King You’s Residence were left. In the past, all the old items were burned in the fire. Only this item was kept with him. Now that Father has passed away, he’s no longer worthy of carrying this item.”

The emperor’s expression was unfathomable. His hands trembled as he opened the box. There was a dagger inside. It was inlaid with gold and jade. It was decorated with seven gems and extremely expensive.

The eunuch serving the emperor was so shocked that his forehead broke out in a cold sweat and he immediately knelt on the ground.

When the emperor suddenly saw this dagger, he was even more stunned.

The entire court was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Yin Huaixi lowered his eyes, his young master’s words echoing in his ears. “Once others resonate with your grievances, their hearts will often override their rationality. The decisions they make will often be made from their hearts, more than their rationality. Only then can you make full use of the human heart.”

So what if the heart was unpredictable?

No one could escape Young Master’s flawless plan.

Below, there were already officials who couldn’t stand the heavy atmosphere and trembled. Some people couldn’t help but gasp heavily.

Xia Yansheng, who had been dozing off, woke up with a jolt, not daring to look at the king on the dragon throne.

Even Mr. Xian Yun put down his tea and glanced at the calm Yin Huaixi beside him.

After a long time, the emperor’s tired voice came from the dragon throne. “Back then, in the first year of my ascension to the throne, King Dong Ning of Cangzhou happened to hunt a strange dragon with a bump on its forehead in the East Sea. He pulled out its muscles and bones and hired the most famous swordsmith in the world to forge a short dagger that was only three inches long.”

As he spoke, he took out the short dagger from the box. The dagger was probably well maintained. After so many years, the gold and jade on it was still the same.